Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Hartman & Smith Construction Co., 24 W. 13th Street, CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202
on — Fractures, affecting the leg(s), unspecified.
Final narrative
On November 28, 2018, an employee was standing in a 4 1/2-foot trench when it collapsed. The falling clay/dirt broke the employee's left leg.
An employee was doing electrical work in a trench when one of the trench walls caved in. The employee was struck by the soil and sustained fractures to their ribs and pelvis.
An employee was kneeling in a 4-foot deep hole trying to fix a leak in the waterline. The sidewalls were wet and the dirt fell from behind the employee onto his left side and crushed him against the pipe. The employee was hospitalized for an injured liver.
Employees were checking a trench box for removal when the wall caved in, burying the employees. One employee was hospitalized for 8 rib fractures and a shoulder fracture. The other employee was also hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 237110)
An employee was moving a tensile strength test device with a dolly. The device fell from the dolly onto the employee's right leg, causing a compound fracture.
On October 7, 2025, employees were conducting trenching operations for the installation of a new sewer line system. The excavator's bucket was detached and put inside the trench as it was being exchanged for a different-sized bucket. An employee entered the trench with a shovel to move some dirt located at the front end of the pipe. The excavator bucket shifted and slid, striking the employee s right foot and trapping it against the ground. The employee sustained a fractured right tibia.
Employees were working to dislodge a large truck that was stuck in a rut using tow straps and a front-end loader with the bucket removed. An employee connected the straps to the loader and truck and another employee slowly engaged the loader to close the coupler. The injured employee's arm became caught in a pinch point. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured arm.
An employee was lifting a piece of 30-inch line stopping equipment using a jack screw. A lifting eye weld snapped and the load dropped. The end of the jack screw then landed on the employee's heel and crushed it. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was working to deliver mail to an apartment building. She was waiting for a customer to move, to obtain clearance to the mailboxes. The door swung inward and closed on her right little finger. The top half of her finger was surgically amputated.
An employee fell from a step ladder while reaching for a tie-off point. He impacted the ground, and landed on his bolt bag which contained tools. The employee was hospitalized with fractured ribs, and a lacerated spleen and kidney.
On October 30, 2025, an employee was working to adjust a stackable metal shipping container. As the container dropped into place, it caught the employee's hands in an area between the upper and lower cross-members. The employee suffered a laceration to the left ring finger that required stitches, bruising to the right ring finger, and fractures to the right middle finger that necessitated medical amputation of the fingertip.
An employee was moving a scissor lift through a doorway. The employee was pinned between the scissor lift and the doorframe, sustained a back injury, and was hospitalized.
An employee was setting up communication equipment for a meeting. They were walking and tripped over a speaker on the ground. The employee sustained a leg injury.